The kind of leadership AI can't generate | Jennifer Gregory Davis | TEDxFolsom

Key Concepts:

• Generative Leadership: Cultivation of growth, connection, and shared purpose.
• Gatekeeping: Controlling access and power, the opposite of generative leadership.
• Wisdomkeepers: Individuals with deep experience and generosity to share it.
• Innovators: Individuals who bring energy, urgency, and bold new ideas.
• Mutual Generativity: Symbiotic relationship between wisdomkeepers and innovators.
• Age Inclusion: Valuing and integrating different generations in the workplace.
• Generativity vs. Stagnation: A tension in human development between growth and decline (Erik Erikson).

1. Defining Generative Leadership

• Traditional leadership models are based on charisma, command, and control, which are insufficient for today's complex world.
• Generative leadership focuses on cultivating growth, connection, and shared purpose, ensuring that what is built together endures.
• Generative leaders unlock possibilities, expand access, and open doors for and with others, rather than hoarding control.
• Example: Mr. Hunt, the speaker's high school activities director, exemplified generative leadership by coaching the speaker after a leadership failure and emphasizing shared ownership.
• Quote: "People tend to support something they help to create." - Mr. Hunt

2. The Need for Generative Leadership in a Changing World

• The world is rapidly changing technologically, emotionally, and socially, especially with the rise of AI.
• AI can generate content but cannot generate leadership qualities like empathy, courage, responsibility, and connection.
• Leadership is crucial for determining how future innovations unfold and ensuring a thriving future in the era of human-AI collaboration.
• Generative leadership is a human-centered response to a tech-driven future, focusing on connection rather than just content creation.

3. Generativity vs. Stagnation: A Choice for Leaders

• Leaders face a choice between generativity (growth) and stagnation (decline), as described by psychologist Erik Erikson.
• Generative leaders release control and multiply possibilities, while stagnant leaders resist change and protect their position.
• Examples of stagnant organizations: Blockbuster, Kodak, and Blackberry, which failed to adapt and let go of old models.
• Stagnant leadership manifests as leaders prioritizing their own voices and preferences, or managers who hold keys but never open doors.

4. The Power of Wisdomkeepers and Innovators

• Wisdomkeepers are individuals with deep experience and the generosity to share it, while innovators bring energy, urgency, and bold new ideas.
• Mutual generativity is the strategic and symbiotic relationship between wisdomkeepers and innovators, combining perspective and possibility.
• Age inclusion is a competitive advantage, as age-diverse teams outperform others.
• Young leaders are already shaping the future with their digital native skills and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Wisdomkeepers can offer innovators open doors, encouragement, and strategy, while innovators can teach wisdomkeepers new approaches.
• The question is not who will lead, but how to lead together, as the future is co-created.

5. Examples of Generative Leadership in Action

• F1 (the film): Sunny Hayes, a retired race car driver, elevates the young rookie Joshua Pierce by sharing his strategy and creating conditions for Joshua's success.
• Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus: Beyoncé invited Miley Cyrus on stage during her Cowboy Carter tour and gave her the "riser," demonstrating generosity and support.
• Quote: "Confident women don't compete... That's what women who support others do. You ask, 'How can I make your entrance something really special and give you all the power?'" - Miley Cyrus

6. Practical Steps to Practice Generative Leadership

• Key 1: Expand Your Circle: Share access and platform, and invite others into processes, projects, and spaces. Ask, "Who's missing? Who could I invite into this?"
• Key 2: Engage in Deep Dialogue: Listen to understand, not to advise. Pause, get curious, and ask, "How might you see this? What am I missing? Help me understand."
• Key 3: Co-create the Future: Share work, credit, and ownership. Remember that people tend to support something they help to create.

7. Generative Leadership as a Lifegiving Force

• Generative leadership is rooted in relationship and respect, shaping a sustainable future.
• Analogy: A massive oak tree that creates a generative ecosystem for life to thrive in and around it.
• Leadership is not just about what you do, but about what grows because of you.

8. Conclusion

• As we look to the future, we must consider whether our leadership is generative, unlocking possibility or holding it back.
• Our legacy is shaped by the space we create for others and the opportunities we unlock.
• The key question is: What will you unlock for yourself, for others, and for what's next?